Spider

A small house is devastated by the irrepressible force of the Ñuble river. Anita is rescued from the riverbank while her parents disappear into the water. She is given in adoption to her godparents, who can not keep her, they turn her over to a large hacienda in the area, where the little one will be the companion of the sickly patron, Lucia. When the owner of the hacienda dies, Anita, disregarding the advice of the other servants, stays to serve the boss, Don Pablo. She is already a woman and he is a single man. A strong attraction emerges between the two. This sad story of love and revenge as strong and uncontrollable as the overflowing waters of the Ñuble River.

When the Chilean officials lift the ban on harvesting the shellfish "el loco" (which purportedly is an aphrodisiac) in the seaside village of Puerto Gala greed and lust take hold. Greed is embodied by Carlos Maldonato, "El Canuto," who attempts to buy all of the shellfish for a Japanese company, and by a traveling band of prostitutes that accompany the influx of fishermen. El Canuto also wrangles to get into good stead with an old flame, Sonia, who is now the proprietor of "La Pincoya," a local restaurant. But "el loco" proves more effective, and more damaging, than anyone could have guessed.

Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.

In the city of Santiago, four characters struggle to reach their goals: a psychologist who wants to help other women and save their lives, a hairdresser who wants to buy a car, a musician who wants to play in a philharmonic orchestra, and a young woman who simply survives in the city, but each of them obtains something unexpected and different from what they wanted.

A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes.

Three vignettes about the lives of young Chileans and their passions and frustrations over one of the century's most important rituals: football.